


The Arms Of An Angel

by messandahalf



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Angel Wings, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Oblivious Dean Winchester, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 08:19:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21504766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/messandahalf/pseuds/messandahalf
Summary: Dean wakes up and finds out that he can see Castiel’s wings, but doesn’t tell the other two that. Some research ensues, and brings some interesting information to the table.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 10
Kudos: 196





	The Arms Of An Angel

Dean is awoken by the unpleasant sensation of something tickling his nose. He grunts and swats a hand out, fully expecting to connect with the solid body of his brother, but his loose fist sails unhindered through the air. Cracking an eye open, he pats his face to figure out what exactly is tickling him, if it’s not his brother.

“Wha-tha-fu?” He slurs, still sort of asleep, as his hand comes away with an inky black feather. He struggles upright in his bed and looks around the room, searching for any other random feathers. The solitary one still clutched in his left hand is the only one there. He stares at it for a moment or two, before shrugging and setting it down on his pillow as he slowly gets to his feet. It was probably time to get up anyway.

The heavenly smell of brewing coffee greets him as he steps out of his room, and he follows the smell to the kitchen. Once there, he finds Sam sitting at the table, mug on the hard surface beside him, and jogging gear in place. Another look tells Dean that Sam has already _been_ on his run, despite it being ass o’clock in the morning.

“Morning, Dean.” Sam greets as he catches sight of his brother lingering in the doorway. Dean merely grunts, not particularly in the mood to talk without having coffee in his system. With coffee in mind, he ventures into the room and pulls a mug from the cupboard. Filling it to the point that it’s almost over-flowing, he carefully makes his way to the table.

“You’re up early.” Sam comments as Dean sinks into the seat across from him. Dean meets Sam’s eyes over the rim of his mug as he takes a cautious sip of the still steaming liquid.

“Feather.” He mumbles, wincing slightly as his coffee burns his mouth. Sam’s face screws up in confusion.

“What?” He asks. Dean takes another small sip, then sets his mug down on the table.

“There was a feather in my room.” He clarifies. He gestures to his face with the hand not wrapped tightly around the handle of the mug. “It was tickling my nose.”

Sam stares at him for a moment before making a _‘huh’_ sound. “Better than a bucket of cold water.” He muses before his eyes twinkle with amusement. “Was there shaving cream on your hand that you smeared all over your face?” He asks with a laugh.

“Haha.” Dean bites back, with no real malice behind it. Sam’s words bring back memories of their old prank wars, and of Sam doing that exact thing to him at least twice. “No, there was nothing in my hand. Actually, there was no one else in the room. Just a feather.” Dean shrugs as he lifts his mug back to his lips.

“That’s weird.” Sam frowns. Dean gives him a _‘you’re telling me?’_ look that makes Sam roll his eyes. “Where did it come from? We haven’t had a case that involved anything with feathers for... months. Longer even.” Dean nods silently, more interested in nursing his coffee than in the mysterious appearance of feathers in his room during the night.

They lapse into silence, Dean slowly becoming more awake, and Sam fidgeting with his own mostly empty mug. As Dean drains the last of his coffee, he gets to his feet to refill it. He gets a good look at his brother as he returns to the table. Sam is very reminiscent of a junkie waiting for his next fix. His fingers are tapping on the table while his knee bounces underneath.

“Jesus, Sam.” Dean groans. “It’s just a feather. Calm down.” Sam shoots him a look.

“It could mean something, Dean.” He shoots back. Dean huffs a laugh.

“Ask Cas. Maybe the dude is shedding.” The mental image of Castiel’s wings molting makes Dean snort out another laugh. He sobers up when he catches sight of his younger brother’s face, however. “Sam, I was kidding, _Christ_.”

“But what if you’re right, Dean?” He argues. “What if as Cas’ grace diminishes, his wings become more visible in our world?”

Dean shoots him a look. “No, Sam. I was joking. The guy has never left feathers lying around before. Why would he start now?” Dean gets a smug smile on his face as Sam opens his mouth to argue, but closes it again as he realizes that he has nothing to back his theory up. He sighs in relief as silence once again descends upon them. There are footsteps in the hall, approaching them, as he lifts his mug and drains a third of it in one go. It promptly gets sprayed all over the table, and subsequently Sam, as Castiel steps into view.

“Ah, man! Dean, what the hell?” Sam cries, lifting both hands to wipes drops of coffee off his face. Cas is giving him a funny look from the doorway as Dean stares open mouthed back.

“Dean, is everything all right?” He asks. Deans mouth works open and closed like a beached fish, but no words come out. Protruding from the angel’s back, and tucked up neatly behind him, are two large wings. Two large wings that are covered in feathers that just so happen to match the one sitting on Dean’s pillow.

“Dean?” His brother’s voice cuts through to him. Dean shifts his stunned gaze to Sam, expecting to see the same shock and surprise mirrored on his brother’s face. Except it isn’t. Sam is showing no signs that he sees the wings currently attached to their best friend. In fact, all he looks is concerned as he stares at his older brother. Dean quickly realizes that he’s the only one who can see Castiel’s wings, and as that realization sinks in, he decides to not tell them. Not yet.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” He wheezes slightly, heart still hammering in his chest. “Was a little too hot to try and drink that much, that’s all.” He lies as he gestures to his coffee mug. Both his brother and his best friend give him shrewd looks. He holds his breath as he waits to see if they’ll believe him. Eventually, he relaxes as Sam nods and Cas fully enters the room. Dean has to force himself not to follow Cas’ wings as the man passes behind him to sit at the table too.

He gets another funny look from Sam as he takes a deep breath and shifts a little further away from Cas as the angel settles beside him. He gives his brother a strained smile.

“So, Cas.” He says, trying to sound nonchalant, and failing miserably. He clears his throat and tries again. “What’s up with you this morning?”

Cas looks at him, head tilted slightly in confusion. “Nothing.” He replies, eyes roaming over Dean’s tense and flushed face. “You’re up early.” He repeats Sam’s comment from earlier.

Dean, who was midway through a drink of coffee, splutters and chokes as he accidentally breathes it in instead of swallowing it properly. The other two give him funny looks again as he coughs violently into the crook of his elbow. After a moment, Sam turns to Cas, mouth open and ready to explain for his brother, but Dean cuts him off.

“I smelled the coffee.” He croaks, still red faced and wheezing. “Impossible to resist that.” Sam shoots a startled looks at his brother, and Cas looks skeptically between them. Dean merely shrugs innocently and chances another sip of coffee. Thankfully, this one goes down properly.

Sam frowns, before once again turning to the angel. As he opens his mouth to speak, Dean’s blood runs cold. “He found a feather in his room. It was apparently tickling his face. Woke him up.”

Dean looks very similar to a deer caught in the headlights as Castiel turns his gaze on him. His face is unreadable as he scrutinizes the hunter before him.

“A feather?” He asks Dean, wanting to confirm what Sam had just told him. Dean forces his eyes to stay on Cas’ face and not drift to the wings ruffling almost unhappily behind the angel. Dean gulps and nods silently. Was it just Dean’s imagination, or did Cas’ face pale slightly?

“Any idea where it came from?” Sam’s voice disrupts their eye contact, Cas looking to the younger Winchester and Dean dropping his eyes to his almost empty mug. Castiel shifts uncomfortably in his seat, the movement catching Dean’s eye.

“No.” The angel’s reply is clipped and shuttered, just like it used to be when he first came to Earth, all those years ago. Dean chances a glance up at his face, only to find his face matches his tone. Sam seems to pick up on that too, cause he quirks an eyebrow.

“Really?” He questions, obviously not believing a word the angel said. Castiel’s eyes flick to Dean briefly before he firmly shakes his head.

“No, Sam. I don’t know.” The statement is slightly more believable this time. “What supernatural creatures have feathers?” He asks in an attempt to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“Other than angels?” Dean pipes up, watching Castiel’s face carefully. “Not many. We’ll have to dig into the lore.” Cas glances at Dean, eyes locking for a short moment, before he looks away and nods.

“Sounds like a good idea.” He replies, pushing up to his feet. “I’ll meet you in the library.” Sam and Dean both watch the angel manoeuvre away from the table and out of the room. The only difference being that Sam just looked puzzled, while Dean’s eyes were glued to those beautiful wings.

“That was weird, right?” Sam’s voice shakes Dean from his thoughts. He takes a deep breath and nods.

“Yeah, Sam. That was weird.” He confirms, before getting to his feet and hurrying out of the room. He isn’t particularly eager to have his brother point out that he himself is being weird too. He’s pretty sure he hears his brother mumble _‘what the fuck?’_ as he slips out of view.

~~~

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Dean meets Sam and Cas in the library. Sam spares a brief glance up at him as he enters. Cas resolutely keeps his head down, nose buried in his book. With neither one looking at him, he chances a look at Cas’ wings. They’re curled in tight to Castiel’s back, uncomfortable and tense looking.

“Find anything useful?” He asks, forcing himself to tear his gaze away from the wings and lock on his brother instead. To his horror, his brother is already looking thoughtfully at him. They quickly flick over to Cas, who still hasn’t looked up, before returning to Dean as he shakes his head.

“Not yet.” He answers, but his tone gives away the fact that he’s starting to suspect something. Dean nervously makes his way over to an empty chair and sinks down, pulling the book closest to him over and flipping it open. He pretends to read for a few minutes before Sam clears his throat. Dean looks up, meeting his brother’s gaze.

“Can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?” Sam asks, already rising out of his chair. The words have Cas looking up. As Dean nods and gets to his feet, Cas watches them warily. Dean can feel his eyes burning holes in his back as he follows his brother out of sight.

“What’s up?” He tries for levity, but it falls short as his brother shoots him a no-nonsense look.

“What’s up is that there is something you’re not telling me.” Sam replies. Dean shifts his weight from one foot to the other, not meeting his brother’s eyes. Sam stays silent, willing to wait his brother out. Finally, Dean heaves a sigh and looks up.

“I can see them, Sam. I don’t know what that means, but I can see them. They’re right there, and they’re distracting and b—“ He stops himself before he can say the word beautiful.

“You can see what?” Sam asks. He has a very good idea on what exactly Dean can see, but he wants to hear Dean say it.

“Come on, man. Don’t make me say it. It makes me sounds crazy.” Dean complains. Sam just quirks that eyebrow again.

“Okay, fine!” Dean throws his hands up in defeat. “His wings, okay? I can see Cas’ wings. There, you happy?” Dean grouses. Sam has to bite back a smile before his brother can catch it.

“I had a feeling. Why did you stop me from telling Cas about the feather this morning?” He asks. Dean looks up, stricken.

“Why?” He asks incredulously. “Because it’s crazy, that’s why. Our angel best friend has two huge, black wings sprouting from his back that only I can see. I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what that means.” He rants in a hushed whisper, very aware that Cas is sitting just around the corner and could very well be able to hear every word of this conversation.

Sam opens his mouth to reply, but doesn’t get a chance to. A deep, gravelly voice cuts him off prematurely.

“It means that you and I are connected, Dean.” Both Winchester’s swing their gazes to settle on Castiel, now standing a few feet away from them.

“We already knew that, Cas.” Dean argues. “Profound bond and all that.” He feels his face involuntarily redden at the memory.

“Of course, Dean.” Cas laments. “But this connection is stronger than our previous bond.” He adds, not meeting either brother’s eyes.

“What does that mean, exactly?” Sam asks when a glance at Dean shows his brother currently unable to talk. Castiel sighs, wings ruffling and twitching behind him.

“It is of no consequence.” Cas says gruffly, a nervous flare crossing his face.

“Of no consequence?” Dean splutters. “Cas, Buddy, if I can see your wings, I’d say that’s a pretty big deal. If this connection involves me, then I want to know what it means.”

Cas lifts unsettled eyes up to Dean’s. Sam notes that he almost looks like he’s pleading silently to not make him explain. Dean only hardens his eyes as he glares back. With a heavy sigh, the angel backs down.

“There comes a point in every angel’s existence when a mate, or a soulmate, is revealed to them. It is almost always another angel. When such a pairing is created, the two angels fully complete their bond, and they are connected for the rest of their lives.” He stops to shift uncomfortably. Dean and Sam share a look before he continues.

“I have heard stories, rumours really, about angels getting paired with humans instead. They are almost never completed due to the risk of a nephilim coming into being.” Dean feels his heart launch into his throat as his stomach drops. He has to swallow heavily before he can speak.

“And, uh, how do angels know when their soulmate has been revealed?” He asks, voice quiet due to the frog in his throat. Cas glances up at him briefly.

“Angels just know. It’s a feeling that both party’s experience. A pull toward one another.” Cas’ voice has faded to something quiet and strained. Dean knows what he has to ask next, but he can’t seem to get the words out.

“So when as angel and a human get paired,” Sam says, “the human can see the angel’s wings.” He doesn’t voice it as a question, merely a fact that he’s just figured out. Cas nods miserably as he continues his intense study of the floor.

A heavy silence fills the air, the tension growing steadily stronger as the seconds tick by. Sam’s eyes flick between Cas and his brother, waiting to see who makes the first move.

“You knew.” Dean finally says, voice low and rough. “What you walked into the kitchen this morning, you knew.” Dean’s eyes are intensely boring holes into the top of Cas’ head. When the angel finally looks up to meet his gaze, he flinches.

“Yes. That magnetic pull toward you hit me last night. That’s why I was in your room. That’s why one of my feathers awoke you. I didn’t know that you would be able to see or feel it until I met you both in the kitchen and you reacted so extremely to seeing me.”

Dean’s fists clench at his sides. “So you knew I could see your wings this morning. Were you ever planning to mention that? Or were you just planning to let me think I was crazy and never being the issue up?” He demands, voice growing steadily angrier. Annoyance flashes in Castiel’s eyes, and his wings flare out as best they can in the relatively small space.

“And tell you what, Dean? Would you have reacted any better to the news had I told you earlier? How do you think I felt suddenly getting my soulmate, and knowing that he would never want me back? That I would have to go through life with this incessant pull toward you and never be able to do anything about it? Not bringing it up was far preferable to telling you, and having you push me away. Again.”

Dean shrinks back from Cas’ words. Sam pulls at his hair awkwardly as he looks between the two men. He clears his throat before gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.

“I’m gonna give you two some pace. I’ll be in my room if you need anything. Please don’t kill each other.” Cas nods at him gratefully while Dean completely ignores him. As Sam turns to leave, a large, knowing grin spreads across his face.

Dean watches his retreating brother’s back until he’s out of sight, then waits a little longer to ensure Sam is out of earshot, before turning back to Cas.

“Cas, the fact that you immediately think I would abandon you if you came to me with this kills me. I get why you would assume that, and trust me, it makes me feel like shit. I’m sorry.” He reaches up his right hand to rub at the back of his neck.

“Let’s go sit down, Dean. We clearly have some things to discuss.” Cas suggests, already turning to go back into the library. Dean obediently follows, sinking into the chair beside Cas. He shifts it slightly so he’s facing the angel more.

“Cas, you need to trust me that I’m not going to push you away for this. I don’t want to lose you either, you know?” He says earnestly, needing the angel to believe him. Cas glances up at him, and once their eyes meet, neither one of them can seem to pull their gaze away.

“Can you feel it too?” Cas inquires. Dean feels a tug in his chest and nods.

“Yeah.” He admits softly. “I never gave it much thought, though, cause it’s not that much different than I’ve felt for years.” He flushes red all the way to the roots of his hair at the confession. Castiel studies him in wonder.

“For years?” He asks, voice hushed. Dean nods, hands visibly shaking as he clasps then together. Dean’s eyes drop to his bouncing foot as he nods again. He flinches as Cas reaches out and cups his cheek gently. Very slowly, he guides his head up until their eyes are once again locked on each other.

“Dean.” Cas says quietly. “If I wanted to complete our soulmate bond, what would you say?” His voice is confidant, but his eyes betray his nerves. Dean licks his lips, and Cas’ eyes follow the movement before meeting Dean’s eyes again. Dean can feel his heart hammering in his chest, and he’s honestly surprised that Cas can’t hear it. Maybe he can, and just isn’t commenting on it.

“I’d tell you to kiss me.” He breathes out without thinking. His eyes widen in fear as he realizes what he just said, but he doesn’t get a chance to backpedal. Cas is reaching up his other hand to rest on his other cheek, and is gazing intently into his eyes.

“Is that what you truly want, Dean? If we do this, it can never be undone. We will forever be bound to each other.” Dean’s heart soars at Cas’ words, and he feels himself nod. “I need to hear you say it, Dean.”

“Yeah, I want this, Cas. Whatever it takes, I’m yours.” Deans voice is shaky with nerves, but contains no trace of a lie. For a beautiful moment, Cas smiles. It’s breathtaking, really, but Dean only gets to admire it for a moment before Cas is leaning closer and sealing their lips together.

Dean’s breath hitches as he kisses back. His hands reach out toward Cas as he’s suddenly overwhelmed with a need to touch the angel. He lets out an embarrassing whine as Cas slides his hands back into Dean’s hair and tugs gently. Dean presses his lips more forcefully against Cas’ as his hands land on the angel’s hips.

He pulls back after a minute, flushed and already panting hard. “Cas?” He pants out between hard breaths, asking a million questions with just the one word. Castiel’s eyes flash with emotion, darkening with lust and desire.

“Perhaps we should move this to your room before we continue.” He suggests, voice even lower and huskier than usual. Dean lets out another whimper as he nods, letting Cas pull him to his feet. He can’t help himself as he surges forward to capture those delicious lips with his own again. His body flashes with heat as he hears Cas moan against his lips.

The two men stumble through the bunker back to Dean’s room. Once inside, with the door securely shut behind them, Cas pushes Dean back onto the bed. Dean lands heavily, reaching out to pull Cas down to hover over him.

“I want you to mate me, Cas.” He purrs. Cas lets out a feral growl before once again kissing Dean’s already swollen lips. He definitely didn’t have to be told twice.

**Author's Note:**

> I am officially now on tumblr! I suck at technology, so you’ll just have to go the old fashioned way of looking up: messandahalf10 😂


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